Baby joy after 20 miscarriages

A woman who suffered 20 miscarriages has described her joy at finally holding her "miracle" baby boy.

Kelly Moseley, 37, and husband Alan had been trying for a baby since they married in 2002.

Despite enduring 18 miscarriages at eight weeks pregnant and losing two baby boys at five months, Mrs Moseley refused to give up hope, even though her GP told her to stop to prevent more heartache.

But determined to have "just one more go", Mrs Moseley turned to consultant Hassan Shehata, an expert in miscarriages, after seeing him on television.

He has pioneered a technique where women take the anti-malaria and arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine to suppress the immune system and stop the body attacking an unborn baby.

As a result of the treatment, Mrs Moseley, from Birmingham, was able to carry her son, Tyler, until he could be safely delivered.

She said: "I still can't believe Tyler is here", adding that "he is a miracle".

She said: "I just refused to give up hope and I hope our story encourages other women out there too. I will never forget the babies I've lost and the hurt never goes away, but having Tyler makes it all worthwhile and our lives are now complete.

"So many people were saying, 'It's time to stop. You've lost too many'. But I just couldn't. The thought 'just one more go,' was all that kept me going.

"I saw Mr Shehata, who specialises in recurrent miscarriages, talking on This Morning explaining how he had helped women to stop miscarrying and I prayed he would be able to help me."

With immunologist, Dr Amolak Bansal, he has found out why some women's bodies reject pregnancies, focusing on "natural killer cells" in white blood cells.

Mr Shehata said: "We found that some women's natural killer cells are so aggressive they attack the pregnancy, thinking the foetus is a foreign body.

"And that's what was happening to Kelly. Natural killer cells can be lowered by giving some women steroids - but for Kelly this didn't work so we tried an anti-malaria treatment which also lowers the immune system.

"Kelly is the first patient who received this treatment and it has worked well for around 10 to 15 other women since then. It is an amazing medical breakthrough and I am delighted it worked for Kelly."

Mrs Moseley took hydroxychloroquine for a year before finding out she was pregnant in September 2012.

She was too frightened to tell anyone in case she lost the baby and kept the pregnancy secret until January 2013. Tyler was born last April.

He was delivered 11 weeks early weighing just under three pounds due to Mrs Moseley having high blood pressure.

Mr Shehata said: "It is hard not to go on the emotional rollercoaster with patients but Kelly was a model patient and put her complete trust in me.

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